


Family Ties Lost to Time (but not cut)

by CheetahLeopard2



Series: Mortals & Demigods [4]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, High School, M/M, Nico di Angelo has living relatives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:20:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25641958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheetahLeopard2/pseuds/CheetahLeopard2
Summary: Nico di Angelo has living relatives through his mother's side. I love this concept too much and I could only find one fic with it.Nico smiles a soft smile, and Marco nods at him with a smile before continuing. He flips the page to a different photo, this is of Marco’s father playing cards with a woman who is clearly his sister.She looks a lot like Bianca, and Nico’s breath catches in his throat, “Maria?”Marco looks at him in surprise, “Yes, that is my Aunt Maria di Angelo.”Nico has never seen a photo of his mother. He doesn’t have any clear memory of her face, only knows from Hades that Bianca looked a lot like her.He reaches for the binder with shaking fingers, and Marco turns it so Nico can better see.
Relationships: background Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: Mortals & Demigods [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1900327
Comments: 23
Kudos: 331





	Family Ties Lost to Time (but not cut)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [How Happy You Look](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17737922) by [percyspandapillowpet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/percyspandapillowpet/pseuds/percyspandapillowpet). 



> I love this concept too much and I could only find one fic with it. So uh, be the change you want to see in the world lol 
> 
> **Bold** is when they're speaking Italian

Nico dislikes school already.

At least Will is here, although they don’t share any classes except CP Greek History.

And, he seems to have made a friend in a kid in his History class, Gio.

“I understand how it is to be the new kid,” Gio reassures, “that was me last year. We’d just moved over from Italy.”

Nico nearly stops walking out of surprise, “ **You’re from Italy?** _”_ he asks, in Italian.

Gio’s face brightens, “ **Yes! You too?”**

“ **I moved here when I was 8,”** Nico answers, reeling.

“My grandfather’s surname is actually di Angelo, I can’t believe I didn’t realize you’re Italian,” Gio laughs, switching back to English, but Nico’s stuck on ‘grandfather’.

Hades hasn’t told him anything about Maria di Angelo, but he vaguely knows she had had a brother. Nico’d asked all the time about his mother- maybe he was asking after the wrong person.

Nico shakes his head a bit, there’s little to no chance that Gio’s talking about a relative of Nico’s.

* * *

Nico storms out of History in a foul mood, Gio following close behind.

_“We’ve finished this unit ahead of schedule, so we’re going to do an extra project that I usually have to cut out. A family history project.”_

Yeah, sure, that’s great. Just dandy. It’s not like Nico was born in 1932 Italy or anything. That’ll go over great, ‘Yeah I was born in Mussolini’s Italy, and my family fled to the US only to have my mom struck by lighting in a hotel because she offended my Uncle so my dad (a god, btw) stuck my sister and I in a hotel for 70-ish years after erasing our memories and that’s all the family history I know unless you want me to do a report on my dad’s (the GOD) side of the family.’

Yeah, that would be _fine_.

“Do you not like the premise of the project or just the extra work?” Gio asks bravely.

Nico turns, ready to snap, but remembers that Gio’s a mortal and doesn’t know anything about Nico’s history or family, and takes a deep breath instead.

“My mom and sister died after we moved here,” Nico grits out, “I don’t like to think about family history.”

Gio stops short for a second, “Oh, I’m so sorry man. Maybe you can ask Mrs Powell to do something else?”

Nico… had genuinely not known that was something you could do. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other in thought, “Do you think she’s still in the classroom?”

“Maybe!” Gio says cheerfully, “Let’s go check.”

Mrs Powell the history teacher is indeed still in the classroom, to Nico’s relief. And, even more amazing, she actually _listens_ to Nico when he asks to be excused from the project (citing his mom and Bianca).

“I’m so sorry for your losses. I hadn’t even thought about that,” She frowns and taps the textbook in front of her with her pen, “You know what, since it’s not technically a part of my lesson plans anyway, I’ll make the project optional for extra credit. Don’t worry about it, Nico.”

“Thank you so much, Mrs Powell,” Nico says, hoping his sincerity is clear, before walking back out to where Gio’s waiting in the hall.

“So?” Gio stretches out the ‘o’.

Nico flashes a grin and a thumbs up, “Let’s head to lunch.”

* * *

Gio is definitely super excited to learn his family’s history, and honestly Nico is happy for him.

“Hey, Nico,” Gio’s tone is unusually serious, “my Grandfather’s agreed to tell me about my family tree, do you want to come over to my house and hear it with me? I figured you might appreciate the stories of Italy.”

Nico stares for a moment, long enough that Gio starts to fidget, before smiling brightly, a smile only Will and Reyna have seen, “I’d love that.”

* * *

Gio’s house is very nice, it feels cozy and lively and welcoming all at once. Gio’s grandfather, Marco, is waiting for them at the kitchen table when they get there, along with Gio’s mother, Bria, who’s made cannolis for them.

They’re all very kind, open people, and Nico wonders for a wistful second if this is what his home in Italy was like.

He quickly waves the thought away, and instead focuses on the warmth of the people sitting in front of him.

 **“Hello Mom, Grandfather,”** Gio greets in Italian, “ **This is my friend Nico, he’s from Italy as well.”**

 **“Hello, nice to meet you** ,” Nico says, and Gio’s family smiles warmly at him.

They exchange pleasantries and small talk, before Marco gestures for Bria to bring a large binder, which is placed on the table before Bria excuses herself for a business call.

“ **This is for my family,”** Marco explains, flipping to a family photo which has someone who’s unmistakably Marco as a teenager, a younger boy, a tall woman with a kind smile, and a man in a suit with a fond expression on his face as he looks at the boys.

Marco points the man out as his father, and the woman as his mother. “ **The other boy was my younger brother. He and his boyfriend died in the 90s.”**

Nico starts a bit, “ **Boyfriend?”** he repeats, and Marco nods.

**“Yes, they were very happy together. Is there an issue?”**

Nico shakes his head rapidly, “ **I am glad he was accepted.”** Nico hesitates for a moment, before blushing, “ **I have a boyfriend, too.”**

Gio smiles at Nico, “ **You and Will are great together.”**

Nico smiles a soft smile, and Marco nods at him with a smile before continuing. He flips the page to a different photo, this is of Marco’s father playing cards with a woman who is clearly his sister.

She looks a lot like Bianca, and Nico’s breath catches in his throat, “ **Maria?”**

Marco looks at him in surprise, **“Yes, that is my Aunt Maria di Angelo.”**

Nico has never seen a photo of his mother. He doesn’t have any clear memory of her face, only knows from Hades that Bianca looked a lot like her.

He reaches for the binder with shaking fingers, and Marco turns it so Nico can better see.

Nico gently turns to the next page of photos, and there he is. A photo of Maria standing with a hand on Bianca’s shoulder and a hand on his, probably taken the year they fled Italy. She’s wearing a forced smile, with worry lines around her eyes, which glitter with determination even in the old faded photo.

Nico looks impossibly young in the photo, with a large smile and one hand clutching Bianca’s- almost nothing like his current self.

He’s not even thinking, eyes blurred by unshed tears, when he points, “ **Bianca**.”

Marco nods, “ **Was she your grandmother**?” He sounds hopeful, leaning forward in his chair.

Nico shakes his head, a lump in his throat as he tries to answer. When his voice fails him, he points at himself in the photo, and chokes out, “ **Nico**.”

And then he points back at himself and lets the tears fall.

Gio and Marco are staring at him, confused and maybe a bit hopeful, so Nico holds up his index finger in a ‘one moment’ signal and pulls out the photo Leo had given him when Nico and Will went back to school, opening the photos app and trying not to let his tears fall on the screen.

If he goes to the special album he made he has photos of the photobooth photos he had taken with Bianca in the Lotus, and a couple of photos of them at Westover that Grover had taken.

He wordlessly clicks on the one from a dance at Westover, where Bianca has her arm slung over his young shoulder as he smiles for the camera, and slides his phone across the table.

He desperately wipes away his tears as Marco takes the phone with a gasp.

**“How do you have this?”**

**“That’s me,”** Nico says as best he can, “ **And my sister Bianca.”**

Marco looks at him with wide eyes, “ **How**?”

Nico laughs, full of delight, leaning forward, “ **Have you ever heard of the Greek gods?”**

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment! 
> 
> (Also this is my first fic for this fandom. Please lmk if you enjoyed! Be nice)


End file.
